[dfsegoat]

Heard a similarly strange anecdote from consciousness researcher Anthony Peake on a podcast recently:

He was was sitting in a cafeteria eating lunch with a female friend who has a seizure disorder. During the meal, this friend went into a "freeze" (where they essentially detach from reality, blank stare - catatonic) - and while frozen she said "What is he doing here?" while looking at the door behind Peake.

Peake thought this odd, because normally people don't speak while in a freeze - she came out of the freeze a few seconds later and he was telling her that she said something --- and not 1 minute later, the female friends' son walked through the doors, to which she exclaimed "What is he doing here?"

[biot]

Reminds me of that Feynman story where he had the strongest impression that his grandmother just died. Just then, the phone rang. He tentatively picked it up, to discover that it was for his roommate. His grandmother was fine. People strongly remember the coincidences, but they tend to forget all the times that they had some feeling and nothing came of it.

[bostonpete]

Calling this guy a "consciousness researcher" seems very generous if this website is accurate...

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anthony_Peake

[dfsegoat]

This is why I described it as an "anecdote"...

[jshevek]

Without any recordings of this conversation, it's entirely possible that this conversation is entirely a lie, or simply embellished to match the world views of the people involved.

[dfsegoat]

Again - this is why I describe it as an anecdote.

[jshevek]

Do you think that everything can be divided into "evidence" and "anecdotes"?

There is at least a third category: Outright lies. The speaker in this case is incentivized to lie to increase their listenership and make more money.

If this is a lie, it isn't an anecdote:. "A short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person."

[dfsegoat]

How would I know if it is a lie? Until that is elucidated - anecdote is perfectly sufficient for speaking informally.

I notice you also left out (conveniently) the 2nd definition: "an account regarded as unreliable or hearsay."